For the past six months or so, Newt has been attempting to scoot out the door that goes into the garage and leads to the backyard. We’ve had to catch her on many occasions in the garage. Not good. Not safe. For one thing, there’s a hole in the wall (of course.) that leads to the space underneath the house, which you might recall has a mystery rodent, possibly armadillos, and a host of lizards and insects. The other thing is that, while we try to be diligent about closing the door to the yard, sometimes it pops open, and her getting out would be bad, bad, bad. Feral cats, all the aforementioned wildlife, loose dogs, lots of traffic, and so on. (The garage itself isn’t an issue because it doesn’t work. Of course.)

So, I posed the question on Twitter: Is letting your cat outside on leash a good idea? Or does it inspire increased escape attempts? The resounding response was, “Leash her up!”

Since I filmed that initial sojourn, we’ve taken her out two more times. We quickly realized that crossing from the garage into the yard is her big challenge, so John carriers her past that threshold. The second time she found a good spot in the sun and reclined for a bit, but the washer and dryer were running (in the garage) and the sound spooked her, and she fled inside. The third time outside she wanted to creep around and explore. She made it to the patio area (like, 10 feet), saw the grill, panicked, and ran back inside.

We’ll keep trying with short trips and lots of cheese. If she doesn’t seem to relax after a few repeats, we may call it off… unless she re-ups her escape attempts! Then I don’t know what we’ll do!

But, if you’re thinking about letting your cat outside, I’d definitely recommend a leash/harness combo like we got (I think it was $9 at Petco), just to keep her safe. Start slow, give lots of praise and rewards, and gauge her interest. We’re going to also work on getting her more comfortable with the harness indoors, so hopefully that’ll help too!

Mental exercise is crucial to our dogs’ overall wellness. The same thing applies to cats, but there seem to be fewer products designed to get them thinking. (At least that I’ve found! If you know of any, do share!)

So, I decided to whip one up: a DIY cat puzzle!

This is the easiest DIY project you will ever do.

Supplies: a small box and a collection of either toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls cut down to size.

Steps: Fill the box with the rolls. Then, sprinkle some yummy cat treats or dry kibble in the slots, and let your cat go to town.

Back when John and Newt first became roomies, the pet sitters brought Newt this little teddy bear. She loves him. It’s the funniest thing because he’s almost as big as she is, but she drags him all around the house and leaves him places…

like, on the stairs…

or near her food dish…

in the room above the garage…

even under my desk!

When the dogs first arrived, they would periodically pick up Teddy, but they quickly learned that he was off limits! Cats only!

Two funny things about Teddy: First, we never see her move him from place to place. She does it overnight or when we’re out running errands. Teddy is under my desk; I go to the store; Teddy is in her cat tree. The next morning, Teddy is not in the cat tree anymore. We find him later, tucked safely underneath the futon.

Second, Newt talks to Teddy. She’ll walk over to him, and just start going on and on, “Mow, mow, MOWWW, mowmowh!”

I have no idea what’s going on in her cat brain. Is Teddy her BFF? Her ally against the dogs? Or is he more like a security blanket? Or her kill? Is this normal cat behavior or extra silly Newt behavior?

I know some of you guys know cats really well. What do you think Newt’s thinking with Teddy? Or, is it like Emmett has always thought: She’s a total weirdo?

If you follow along on Facebook, you know that Newt started wearing a collar camera on occasion in conjunction with the Nature’s Recipe for Moments campaign.

It’s my fault we haven’t kept our scrapbook more up-to-date, but I’m working to remedy that situation. In the meantime, check out Newt’s pictures here! (Please don’t judge the orange-toned house we live in… we’re just renting. It’s hideous.)

OH! And the campaign – including Newt by name! – was mentioned in The New York Times. Woot! What fun!

I’m going to keep the scrapbook updated – and I’m even going to let Coop wear it when we’re not home to see what they get up to when left to their own devices (bwhahahah!), so if anything great shows up, I’ll let you know!

Have you ever tried technology like this to spy on your pets? If so, what did you catch? If not, would you consider it?